Telemetric contextually based spatial audio system integrated into a mobile terminal wireless system

ABSTRACT

A telemetric contextually based spatial audio system is integrated into a mobile terminal including a headset and antenna. The headset includes an electronic compass which determines head orientation data for the user. The terminal&#39;s geographical position can either be determined locally (e.g. onboard GPS) or by network triangulation. The orientation and position data are sent to a server which overlays the position and head orientation data onto a locally stored “floor plan”, describing an object(s) of interest. The floor plan relates the user&#39;s viewpoint to a database of contextual audio clips. A regionally significant portion of the database and respective triggers are sent to the terminal. The terminal using the database information recalculates which audio clip(s) to play. The terminal then convolves the respective audio clip(s) via an impulse response function so as to be perceived by the user as emanating from the exact spatial position of the object specified by the system.

This is a Continuation Application of prior application Ser. No.10/372,159 filed Feb. 25, 2003, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,338 assigned tothe same assignee as that of the present invention, and to whichpriority is claimed.

RELATED APPLICATION

U.S. application Ser. No. 09/961,373 entitled “Three Dimensional (3D)Object Locator For Items or Sites Using An Intuitive Sound Beacon:System and Method of Operation”, filed Sep. 25, 2001, assigned to thesame assignee as that of the present invention, and fully incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to mobile information systems and methods ofoperation. More particularly, the invention relates to a telemetriccontextually based spatial audio system integrated into a mobileterminal wireless system.

2. Description of Prior Art

Self-guided tours have long been used to enhance an individual'sexperience at art exhibits, industry trade shows, museums, cruise lines,historic sites and the like. In the past, self guided tours required theuser to go from location to location and typically read written tags oneach item or from a brochure. In many instances, this activity placestoo much of an imposition on the user and is slowly being replaced bylocalized audio broadcasts. Under this model, audio clips are playedbased on the proximity of the user to the specific item. Though easierfor the individual, this model still lacks the animated and interactiveexperience desired in viewing items, exhibits and the like. Further,self-guided tours require the user to get within the proximity of theexhibit in order to find out what the exhibit is about, once again animposition on the individual. In addition, once the user is at thelocation, the user must listen to the generalized audio even though theymay only be interested, or may be particularly interested, in specificaspects of the location. Furthermore, the audio play-out has no methodof directing the user's attention to particular features at the locationother than to obtrusively give the user directions on where to look,which is particularly difficult since the system does not know the exactlocation, or the direction in which the user is facing. Finally, thereis no way to personalize the audio of a particular exhibit to theindividual user since the system has no ephemeral data on the user (e.g.knowing that a user has been present at a specified location, looking ina particular direction for a prolonged period of time can be construedas an area of interest) or a priori knowledge of the individual.

What is needed in the art is a system and method to animate theexperience of a user relative to an item, exhibit; enable the user tohear about an item or exhibit based on their location and field of view;personalize the audio presentation based on specific interests of theindividual; provide intuitive directional cues to bring attention toitems of interest, and to guide the user to a desired location.

Prior art related to mobile communication systems, includes:

U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,202 issued Jan. 20, 1976 discloses an electronictour guide system including means for suppressing objectionablecrosstalk and noise. Crosstalk suppression is achieved by means of acompressor in the transmitter and an expander in the receiver.Objectionable noise between loops is eliminated by means of a squelchcircuit, which reduces power drain whenever the received signal is belowa certain threshold. The transmitter and receiver are designed to handlea plurality of information signals simultaneously. For example, alistener can select one of several different languages broadcast withinan antenna loop. The transmitting loop antenna is matched in impedanceto the output of the channel means in the transmitter so that maximumpower transfer is obtained. Each receiver is further equipped with agravity operated mercury switch which turns off power to the receiverwhen the receiver chassis is inverted. It is anticipated that thissystem will find application in museums, art galleries, archeologicalsites and the like where it is desirable to guide people from locationto location and to address them in their respective languages.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,717,392 issued Feb. 10, 1998 discloses aposition-responsive information presentation system and control. Thesystem and control program automatically provides multimedia output thatis responsive to a user's location, speed, acceleration, and directionalorientation. Also disclosed is a system that receives positioninformation from various systems, including satellite global positionsystems. As disclosed, the system and control program may provide video,audio and tactile outputs to users.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,459,388 issued Oct. 1, 2002 discloses a locationdatabase system provides information about nearby sites to a user. Thesystem includes a processor configured to identify the present locationof the system using the Global Positioning System. The processor is alsoassociated with a clock providing real-time information. The clock maybe the internal clock of a microprocessor serving as the processor ofthe system. The processor may also communicate with a remote database ofsites using a wireless connection. The database includes relevantinformation about the sites, which may be of interest to a user of thesystem, such as locational information, imaging information and images,and/or tour-guide type information. A display provides a visual displayof the relevant information to the user, and the system may providesetting information for the camera and also may provide traveldirections to a particular site, based on a selected view as seen on adisplay.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,181,371 issued Jan. 30, 2001 discloses a head guide witha display is attitudinally controlled for guiding the head of a passiveviewer wherein the display is for viewing images that are emulative ofimages viewed by a cameraman with head mounted cameras whose headattitude is monitored for controlling the head guide in synchronism withthe images gathered by the cameras. Additionally, the viewer's eyes maybe induced to follow a sequence of visual fixations at the same time asthe passive viewer's head is induced to execute attitudinal movementsconsistent therewith.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,045 issued Mar. 6, 2001 discloses a system forproviding position-related information to a mobile user includes amobile unit and a central site server. The mobile unit includescircuitry for determining present position information from positionsignals, which may emanate from, for example, GPS satellites. The mobileunit further includes circuitry for establishing a wirelessbi-directional communications link with the central site server via aterrestrial network, which may be accessed via a cellular telephonenetwork. The central site server includes circuitry for receiving thepresent position information from the mobile unit. A table stored at thecentral site server includes different response information incorrespondence with possible positions of the mobile unit. The responseinformation may further be in correspondence with user preferences. Thecentral site server uses the received present position information toretrieve corresponding response information from the table, and sendsthe retrieved response information to the mobile unit via thebi-directional communications link. The mobile unit further includescircuitry, such as a loudspeaker, for supplying the response informationto the mobile user. In another aspect of the invention, communicationsbetween the mobile unit and the central site server are encrypted.Furthermore, the mobile unit may include components for preventingposition information from being supplied to the loudspeaker, therebyeliminating distracting noise from being presented to the user.

USP Application 0020091793 published Jul. 11, 2002 discloses a methodand system for tourist guiding, including both navigation and narration,utilizing mobile computing devices such as electronic books, palmcomputers, smart cellular phones, and future wearable computers. Loadedwith, or Internet-connected to a Digital Guidebook, the system navigatesthe tourist to and within tour sites using an invented Visual Navigationmethod, and provides detailed multimedia narrations on objects along thetour. The system also navigates the tourist to other touristdestinations such as hotels and restaurants. An additional preferredembodiment combines GPS and CPS navigation with Visual Navigation Thesystem also creates a Digital Tour Album that captures the time and theplaces where the tourist has visited. The system also allows ArmchairTouring and provides Tour Reviews on DVD. The Electronic Tourist Guideis based on latest mobile and wireless communication technologies andallows Internet channeling of live, timely information such as specialevents, latest prices and schedules. Digital Guidebooks can bedownloaded to the tourist's device memory, or streamed to the tourist'sdevice in real-time during the tour. The present invention entails twotechnologies: studio production and distribution of multimedia DigitalGuidebooks, and use of mobile digital tourist guidebooks. The latterfield entails mobile computing devices, wireless broadband Internet, andGeographic Information Systems.

None of the prior art discloses a system and method to animate theexperience of a user S relative to an item, exhibit; thereby enablingthe user to hear about an item or exhibit based on their field of view,and personalizing the audio presentation based on specific interests.None of the prior art discloses intuitive methods of using spatialdirectional audio to bring the user's attention to a specific aspect ofthe location.

Moreover, none of the prior art discloses a mobile terminal capable ofdynamically creating spatial audio sounds by using a set of locallystored impulse-response functions emulating angular positions of a soundrelative to the user's head. And to this end, convolving such sounds inreal-time according to the individual's head position relative to theitem (e.g. to give the user a perception that the audio sound isactually emanating from a point in the object viewed by the individual).

For clarity, we refer to the spatial location at which the audio appearsto be emanating from, as the “audio emanation point” (AEP). The AEP maymap to a physical object, can be used as a stimuli to draw or direct theuser's attention to a specified direction, or to animate the usersexperience using other spatial audio effects.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This system enables a user: (a) to obtain individualized audioinformation based on his/her position and head orientation (e.g.descriptions of merchandize items for sale, trade show displays, etc.),b) to have an enhanced audio-visual experience by having soundsperceived as being emitted from stationery objects, moving objects, orany point in 3D space (e.g. in a museum exhibit, a squawking soundappears to be emanating from a bird on the user's left side while agrowl emanates from a bear as perceived on the users s right), c) tohave the user's attention drawn to other items using spatially directedaudio and based on their current and past actions (e.g. a user lookingat a set of dishes is drawn to another location using spatially directedsound to describe a matching set of cups), and d) to provide a virtualtour-guide through spatial audio (e.g. a user is directed to aconference room by following the direction of a synthesized voice whichis spatially located and continually updated so as to guide the user inthe proper direction).

The user is equipped with a mobile terminal including a binaural stereoaudio headset and an antenna for wireless communication with a servervia an access point. The headset includes an electronic compass ordevice providing equivalent angular positioning, which determines theuser's head orientation (e.g. azimuthal direction the user is looking).Head orientation data is sent to a server via a wireless access point.The terminal's position can either be determined locally (e.g. onboardGPS) or by using the network infrastructure to triangulate theterminal's transmission. In either scenario, all terminal positioninformation is conveyed to the server.

The server overlays the user's geographical position and headorientation information onto a locally stored “floor plan.” The floorplan relates the user's viewpoint to a database of contextual audioclips based on position, orientation, and other event triggers (e.g.time duration at one position). The database also includes, or theserver determines dynamically, the relative angular position anddistance that the spatially directed audio should emanate from (AEP)based on the given user's position. A regionally significant portion ofthe database and respective triggers are sent to the terminal- Theterminal updates its ephemeral data (current location and headorientation), and using the database information recalculates whichaudio clip(s) to play. Before playing the clip(s), the terminal updatesits relative distance and angular positioning relative to the objectfrom which the sound is to emanate. The terminal then convolves (seebelow) the respective audio clip(s) so as to be perceived by the user asemanating from the exact spatial position of the object specified by thesystem (AEP).

Based on the geographical position of the user and users headorientation, the terminal either plays an audio clip describing what theuser is directly viewing (broadside) and/or plays a spatial audioredirecting the user's attention to an item at a known off-centerlocation from the user's view. The audio is perceived by the user asemanating from the item or direction of interest. To create this soundperception, the terminal accesses a table of impulse response functions.Each impulse response function is a generalized transfer functionrepresenting filter characteristics sufficient to transform a sound soas to be perceived by the user as arriving at their head from a specificangle (generally measured as 0 degrees directly in front of the person)and distance. Given an audio clip to play and knowing the relative angleand distance between the user and the object (AEP), the terminalconvolves the audio clip with the respective (angle and distance)impulse response function and plays the resultant audio to the user.This gives the user the perception that the sound is actually emanatingfrom that point in space (AEP). As the user changes his/her headorientation and/or geographical position, the audio is continuouslyre-convolved with the respective impulse response function, making thesound perceived by the user as continuously being emitted from the AEP.Constant monitoring of the telemetry data enables the spatially mappedsounds to maintain a constant relative position to the user. Note thatthe system can also create moving sounds relative to the user. Inaddition, by controlling volume levels and reverberation, the perceivedrelative distance between the object and the user can be altered.

An aspect of the invention is a mobile terminal storing a series ofimpulse response functions used to create 3 dimensional (3D) sounds thatare perceived by the user as being spatially located at a definedrelative angular and distance position (as if emanating from the AEP).

Another aspect is a terminal capable of convolving an audio stream(s) tosupport a dynamic positional relationship between the user and the AEP(i.e. a user's head is turning relative to a fixed AEP or the AEP ismoving with respect to a static head orientation).

Another aspect is the ability to locate a mobile device using either awireless network infrastructure (through triangulation) or incorporatinglocating capabilities within the mobile device (e.g. GPS). Locationinformation is sent to a server, which determines the angle and distancerelationship relative to objects of interest.

Another aspect is a real-time, headset based, tracking mechanism tomeasure angular orientation of the user's head. This information is thenused to determine the angular orientation of the user's head relative tothe object(s).

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects, features and advantages will be more fullyunderstood from the following description of a preferred embodimenttaken in conjunction with an appended drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a representation of one embodiment of a telemetriccontextually based spatial audio system integrated into a mobileterminal wireless system incorporating the principles of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a representation of a user equipped with a headset andterminal linked to a server via an access point for implementing theaudio system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a table of Impulse Response Functions for an object ofinterest viewed by a user in the system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram implementing the system of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 discloses a telemetric contextually based spatial audio system100 integrated into a mobile terminal 102 including a headset 104attached to a user 106 and linked to radio access points 108 and 110,via antenna 112. The headset includes (see FIG. 2) speakers 228 and 230;a transceiver 222 used to transfer data and audio signals between theheadset and terminal; a directional device 114, e.g. electronic compass,GPS, accelerometers, indicating the position and/or heading or angulardirection of the user when viewing objects of interest, e.g. a museumexhibit 116 ¹; a tradeshow display 116 ² and a car 116 ³. The systemtracks the relative angle and distance from the user to each object. Theangular orientation for object 116 ¹ is φ₁. The angular orientation forobject 116 ² is φ₂. The angular orientation for object 116 ³ is φ₃. Asthe user travels towards an object of interest, the distance and angularorientation of the object changes relative to the user. The terminal 102(See FIG. 2), periodically transmits a RF signal 118, containinginformation about the user's head orientation and position.Alternatively, the terminal position can be determined using the RFsignals received by access points 108 and 110.

FIG. 2 shows further details of the information system 100 of FIG. 1,including the terminal 102, headset 104 and the server 120. The terminal102 is a mobile terminal including a FLASH 218 and RAM 202 memory. TheFLASH stores program instructions for operating the terminal andprocessing the generic audio clips into spatial representations. Theprogram instructions include an operating system 204, typicallyMicrosoft Pocket PC or the like, and IEEE Protocols, 802.11(bag)/(x) 206for establishing and conducting low-powered communications with theaccess points 108 and 110, via antenna 112. A table of inpulse responsefunctions 300 (see FIG. 3) is also stored in the ROM 218. The RAM storesdata subsets 215 related to objects of interest, as will be describedhereinafter along with, head orientation data 217 obtained from thedirectional device 114 and geographical positional information 219obtained from GPS or like transmitters (not shown).

The terminal further includes a CPU or microprocessor 214 linked to thememory via a bus 216, an I/O subsystem 220 and Audio Subsystem 226 forreceiving and transmitting signals to the headset 104 and antenna 12. Apower supply (not shown) provides the power for the operation of theterminal and the headset.

Returning to FIG. 1, all terminal data received at the access point(s)is passed to the server 120, including positioning data. The server 120either has a priori knowledge of the objects' locations or can derivetheir positions dynamically using other techniques (e.g. triangulatingoff radio transmitters or RF tags attached to the objects). With thisinformation the server can determine the relative angle and distance ofthe user with respect to the objects of interest. The server 120,knowing the identity and location of the objects, the user'sgeographical position and head orientation, selects and transmits acontext specific portion of a local database 122 to the terminal as adatabase subset 215 which is stored in the RAM 202 (See FIG. 2). Thissubset of the database contains audio clips, angular and distance cuesfor each clip, and the circumstantial events that cause each clip to beplayed to the user relative to an object of interest. This data subsetessentially caches likely near-term events at the terminal, allowing theterminal to be more responsive to changes (e.g. user position or headturns).

The terminal detects when the user is moving outside the perimeterdefined by the locally cached database and requests a cache update fromthe server 120. Alternatively, the server can initiate a cache update asrequired.

FIG. 3 describes a table of impulse response functions 300 (also knownas, Head Relative Transfer Functions—HRTF) stored in the terminal's RAM202 or FLASH 218. Each impulse function models an AEP located at aspecific geometric location relative to a fixed user coordinate system(generally measured as 0 degrees directly in front of the person). Adirectional sound is created by the terminal CPU 214 by firstdetermining the relative angle 302 and distance 304 between the user andthe object of interest, and then convolving the desired audio clip withthe appropriate function listed in the HRTF field 306 for the respectiveangle and distance. A description of impulse response function andconvolution are described in the text, “Introductory Digital SignalProcessing with Computer Applications”, by Paul A. Lynn et al.,published by John Wiley & Sons, N.Y., N.Y., 1989 at pages 32–50.

Using the locally cached database 215 and current user geometry, theterminal looks up the relevant audio clip, convolves the audio with theimpulse response function stored in the terminal and plays the result tothe user via the headset, creating a sound perceived as being located atthe AEP. As the user's relative positioning changes with respect to theobject, either a new audio clip is played or the remainder of theexisting audio clip must be re-convolved and then seamlessly splicedinto the audio output. The terminal continuously repeats this process inorder to maintain a robust user experience.

Constantly monitoring the telemetry of the user enables 3-D sounds tomaintain a constant relative position to the user. As a result, theuser's experience with the object is animated. By way of example, andreturning to FIG. 1, a user at a museum exhibit 116 ¹stands in front ofa panoramic presentation depicting a polar landscape containing lifelikemodels of Eskimos, seals, polar bears, and birds. The audio presentationis initiated based on the user's proximity to the exhibit. The headsettracks the relative position of the user's head, irrespective of wherethe user is standing, 3-D sounds begin to emanate from the exhibit. Thesystem using the impulse response functions 300, synthesizes thechirping of the birds so as to make the user believe that the sound isactually coming from the birds themselves The system can be designed tomake it sound as though the polar bear was charging the user bymodifying the intensity and the reverberation of the sounds.

Using the telemetry data to customize the audio presentation materialfurther augments the user's experience. For example, the user is walkingthrough a trade show exhibit hall 116 ² nd looks at a new car 116 ³.Based on the geographical coordinates and head orientation, an audioclip is presented, which provides an overview of the car. As the userwalks closer to the car, the audio clip is changed and begins todescribe the car in detail. Finally, it is possible that when the userwalks to the rear left window where the sticker price of the car islocated, the user may be presented with financing information for thecar in another audio clip.

Multiple HRTF tables 300 can be stored which can improve operation andperceived correctness. For example, unique HRTF tables can be built tomimic the sound characteristics of the environment in which the user islocated (e.g. the sound in an auditorium is different from the soundoutdoors). Also, since HRTF impulse functions vary slightly based on aperson's head shape and auditory pathways, it is possible to store HRTFtables optimized for an individual user's localization. A trainingsequence in which the user is subject to a set of sounds in specificdirections and selects the sound that most accurately matches thedirection, would enable the system to use the optimal HRTF tables forthe individual.

Turning to FIG. 4, a process 400 will be described in conjunction withFIGS. 1, 2 and 3 for activating and operating the system 100 of FIG. 1.In block 402, a set of HRTF functions 300 are generated for a user aftercompletion of a training sequence, and stored in the terminal FLASH ROM218 or RAM 202. In block 404, the server 120 is activated and stores inthe database 122, a floor plan related to object of interests, the floorplan containing contextual audio clips for the objects of interest basedon a user's position, orientation and event triggers. In block 406, theterminal directional device and transceiver are activated and the headorientation and geographical position obtained from GPS are stored inthe RAM 202. The terminal is linked to the access points 108, 110 usingthe IEEE 802.11 (b) protocols stored in the FLASH ROM. In block 408, theserver 120 receives the terminal transmission via the access pointproviding the user's head orientation and geographical position orcalculates the user's geographical position by radio triangulation. Inblock 410, the user's head orientation and geographical position aremapped to the floor plan and the server selects a regionally significantpart of the database content related to audio clips and triggers for themapped geographical position and head orientation. In block 412, thedatabase content is transmitted to the terminal and stored in the RAM202. In block 414, the terminal updates its current location and headorientation, and re-calculates which audio clips in the database subsets215 to play. In block 416, based on the user's relative head orientationand relative distance to the object of interest, the table 300 isaccessed to select the impulse response function which is convolved withthe re-calculated audio clip and the terminal plays the audio clip tothe user via the speakers whereby the user perceives sound as emanatingfrom the exact spatial position of the object of interest. As the userchanges head position and/or geographical position the audio iscontinuously convolved with respective Impulse Response Function makingthe sound perceived as continuously emanating from the AEP. In block418, the process beginning at block 410 is repeated when the user movesbeyond the perimeter of the locally cached database subset.

While the invention has been described with reference to a preferredembodiment, various changes can be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims, inwhich:

1. A telemetric contextually based audio system integrated into a mobileterminal in a wireless system, comprising: a) A user transported mobileterminal coupled to a server via an air link; b) a headset coupled tothe terminal and including a directional indicator indicating the user'shead orientation relative to an object viewed by the user; c) the mobileterminal including a transmitter transmitting signals to the serverindicative of the user's geographical position and head orientation; d)the server configured to: (i) map the user's head orientation andgeographical position to a physical layout of the object viewed; (ii)select and transmit to the terminal clips of audio sound descriptive ofthe object viewed based upon the user's mapped position and headorientation; and e) the mobile terminal further including a processorconvolving the audio sound to give the user a perception that the audiosound is actually emanating from a point in the object viewed by theuser.
 2. A telemetric contextually based audio system integrated into amobile terminal in a wireless system for instructing a user in theperformance of a task, comprising: a) A user transported mobile terminalcoupled to a server via an air link; b) a headset coupled to theterminal and including directional means indicating the user's headorientation relative to a task to be performed by the user; c)transmitting means transmitting signals to the server indicative of theuser's geographical position and head orientation; d) mapping meansmapping the user's head orientation and geographical position to aphysical layout for the performance of the task; and e) selecting andtransmitting means selecting and transmitting to the terminal clips ofaudio sound instructing the user in the performance of the task basedupon the user's mapped position and head orientation in the physicallayout.
 3. The system of claim 2 wherein the task to be performed may betaken from a group of tasks, not limited to, directing a user in steps(i) to a location in the physical layout; (ii) within a retail market;(iii) in locating other users.
 4. The system of claim 2 wherein theserver accesses a database to obtain clips of audio sound related to theperformance of the task in the physical layout.
 5. The system of claim 2further comprising: f) data describing Head Relative Transfer Functionsstored in the mobile terminal.
 6. The system of claim 2 furthercomprising: g) a database coupled to the server for dynamicallydetermining an audio emanation point based on a user's position.
 7. Thesystem of claim 6 wherein the database means stores the clips of audiosound, according to the steps in the task.
 8. The system of claim 2wherein the terminal plays a clip of audio sound which describes thestep of the task to be performed by the user.
 9. A method in atelemetric contextually based audio system integrated into a mobileterminal in a wireless system for instructing a user in the performanceof a task, comprising: a) coupling a user transported mobile terminal toa server via an air link; b) coupling a headset to the terminal andincluding directional means indicating the user's head orientationrelative to a task to be performed by the user; c) transmitting signalsto the server indicative of the user's geographical position and headorientation; d) mapping the user's head orientation and geographicalposition to a physical layout for the performance of the task; and e)selecting and transmitting to the terminal clips of audio soundinstructing the user in the performance of the task based upon theuser's mapped position and head orientation in the physical layout. 10.The method of claim 9 wherein the task to be performed may be taken froma group of, tasks, not limited to, directing a user in steps (i) to alocation in the physical layout; (ii) within a retail market, and (iii)locating other users.
 11. The method of claim 9 wherein the serveraccesses a database to obtain clips of audio sound related to theperformance of the task in the physical layout.
 12. The method of claim9 further comprising: f) storing Head Relative Transfer Functions in themobile terminal.
 13. The method of claim 9 further comprising: g)dynamically determining an audio emanation point based on a user'sposition using a database and the server.
 14. The method of claim 13wherein the database means stores the clips of audio sound, according tothe steps in the task.
 15. The method of claim 9 wherein the terminalplays a clip of audio sound which describes the step of the task to beperformed by the user.
 16. In a telemetric contextually based audiosystem, a wireless terminal for instructing a user in the performance ofa task, comprising: a) a transceiver including acompression/decompression amplifier for receiving audio signals; b) aprocessor coupled to the transceiver and to an antenna via an I/Ocircuit; c) a non-volatile memory coupled to the processor and storingprogram instructions for operating the terminal and processing genericaudio clips into steps of a task; and d) a volatile memory coupled tothe processor and storing data subsets descriptive of tasks performed bya user; user head orientation obtained from a directional device andgeographical positional of the user obtained from a geographicalposition determining source, wherein the terminal updates its ephemeraldata (current location and head orientation), and using the memoryinformation recalculates which audio clip(s) to play.
 17. The terminalof claim 16 wherein as the user's changes steps in the task, either aPreviously Presented audio clip is played or the remainder of theexisting audio clip is seamlessly spliced into the audio output.
 18. Ina telemetric contextually based audio system, a server for instructing auser in the performance of a task, comprising: a) a processor coupled toa signal source for receiving positional data of a wireless terminal; b)a storage device for storing a floor plan for guidance in theperformance of a task by a user; c) audio clips related to steps of thetask performed by the user stored with respect to the floor plan; d)receiving means receiving terminal transmissions providing users' headorientation and geographic position in the performance of the task; e)mapping means mapping the head orientation and geographical position tothe task in the floor plan; and f) selecting means selecting audio clipsfor transmission to the terminal for the performance of the task by theuser.
 19. The server of claim 18 wherein the server knowing the identityand location of the task(s) to be performed, the user's geographicalposition and head orientation, selects and transmits audio clips,relative to the task to be performed.
 20. A telemetric contextuallybased audio system integrated into a mobile terminal in a wirelesssystem for instructing a user in the performance of a task, comprising:a) A user transported mobile terminal coupled to a server via an airlink; b) a headset coupled to the terminal and including directionalmeans indicating the user's head orientation relative to a task to beperformed by the user; c) transmitting means transmitting signals to theserver indicative of the user's geographical position and headorientation; d) mapping means mapping the user's head orientation andgeographical position to a physical layout for the performance of thetask; and e) selecting and transmitting means selecting and transmittingto the terminal clips of audio sound instructing the user in theperformance of the task based upon the user's mapped position and headorientation in the physical layout, wherein the task to be performed maybe taken from a group of tasks, not limited to, directing a user insteps (i) to a location in the physical layout; (ii) within a retailmarket; (iii) in locating other users, and wherein the server accesses adatabase to obtain clips of audio sound related to the performance ofthe task in the physical layout, and wherein the terminal plays a clipof audio sound which describes the step of the task to be performed bythe user.
 21. A method in a telemetric contextually based audio systemintegrated into a mobile terminal in a wireless system for instructing auser in the performance of a task, comprising: a) coupling a usertransported mobile terminal to a server via an air link; b) coupling aheadset to the terminal and including directional means indicating theuser's head orientation relative to a task to be performed by the user;c) transmitting signals to the server indicative of the user'sgeographical position and head orientation; d) mapping the user's headorientation and geographical position to a physical layout for theperformance of the task; and e) selecting and transmitting to theterminal clips of audio sound instructing the user in the performance ofthe task based upon the user's mapped position and head orientation inthe physical layout wherein the task to be performed may be taken from agroup of tasks, not limited to, directing a user in steps (i) to alocation in the physical layout; (ii) within a retail market, and (iii)locating other users, and wherein the server accesses a database toobtain clips of audio sound related to the performance of the task inthe physical layout the terminal plays a clip of audio sound whichdescribes the step of the task to be performed by the user.
 22. Atelemetric contextually based audio system integrated into a mobileterminal in a wireless system for instructing a user in the performanceof a task, comprising: a) a user transported mobile terminal coupled toa server via an air link; b) a headset coupled to the terminal andincluding a directional indicator indicating the user's head orientationrelative to a task to be performed by the user; c) a transmittertransmitting signals to the server indicative of the user's geographicalposition and head orientation; and d) The server configured to: (i) mapthe user's head orientation and geographical position to a physicallayout for the performance of the task; and ii) select and transmit tothe terminal clips of audio sound instructing the user in theperformance of the task based upon the user's mapped position and headorientation in the physical layout.
 23. In a telemetric contextuallybased audio system, a server for instructing a user in the performanceof a task, comprising: a) a processor coupled to a signal source forreceiving positional data of a wireless terminal; b) a storage devicefor storing a floor plan for guidance in the performance of a task by auser; c) audio clips related to steps of the task performed by the userstored with respect to the floor plan; d) a receiver receiving terminaltransmissions providing users' head orientation and geographic positionin the performance of the task; and e) the server configured to: (i) mapthe head orientation and geographical position to the task in the floorplan; and (ii) select audio clips for transmission to the terminal forthe performance of the task by the user.
 24. A telemetric contextuallybased audio system integrated into a mobile terminal in a wirelesssystem for instructing a user in the performance of a task, comprising:a) A user transported mobile terminal coupled to a server via an airlink; b) a headset coupled to the terminal and including a directionalindicator indicating the user's head orientation relative to a task tobe performed by the user; c) a transmitter transmitting signals to theserver indicative of the user's geographical position and headorientation; d) mapping means mapping the user's head orientation andgeographical position to a physical layout for the performance of thetask; and e) the server configured to: (i) select and transmit to theterminal clips of audio sound instructing the user in the performance ofthe task based upon the user's mapped position and head orientation inthe physical layout, wherein the task to be performed may be taken froma group of tasks, not limited to, directing a user in steps (i) to alocation in the physical layout; (ii) within a retail market; (iii) inlocating other users, and wherein the server accesses a database toobtain clips of audio sound related to the performance of the task inthe physical layout, and wherein the terminal plays a clip of audiosound which describes the step of the task to be performed by the user.25. A method in a telemetric contextually based audio system integratedinto a mobile terminal in a wireless system for instructing a user inthe performance of a task, comprising: a) coupling a user transportedmobile terminal to a server via an air link; b) coupling a headset tothe terminal and including a directional indicator indicating the user'shead orientation relative to a task to be performed by the user; c)transmitting signals to the server indicative of the user's geographicalposition and head orientation; d) the server configured to: (i) map theuser's head orientation and geographical position to a physical layoutfor the performance of the task; and (ii) select and transmit to theterminal clips of audio sound instructing the user in the performance ofthe task based upon the user's mapped position and head orientation inthe physical layout wherein the task to be performed may be taken from agroup of tasks, not limited to, directing a user in steps (iii) to alocation in the physical layout; (iv) within a retail market, and (v)locating other users, and wherein the server accesses a database toobtain clips of audio sound related to the performance of the task inthe physical layout the terminal plays a clip of audio sound whichdescribes the step of the task to be performed by the user.